Page 29 of Firebird (The Fire That Binds #1)

XXVIII

JULIAN

A thunderous roar echoed from the crowds above the subterranean chamber where I stood and waited beneath the arena floor. There were men below me in the basement corridor, their hands on a giant wheel, ready to crank it and open a hatch, then raise me into the Colosseum.

I closed my eyes, trying to calm the tremor of fear that gripped me. Not at battling Ciprian, but at the dread of something I couldn’t see. That this fight was putting actions into motion that were out of my control, that Ciprian was becoming a problem I couldn’t remove without entirely removing him . But if I dared to strike him dead on the arena floor, Caesar wouldn’t be happy. Worse, he’d suspect and distrust me. Then it would all fall apart.

Suddenly, the floor opened up, sunlight spilling into the chamber where gladiators rose out of pits beneath the floor, like gods themselves. As I climbed the stairs, the roar of the people vibrated the air. Directly across from me, Ciprian climbed to the sand floor from another chamber.

We entered the Colosseum at the closest positions to the canopied box where the emperor and his lackeys would watch the spectacle. I didn’t even glance his way, my attention solely on Ciprian.

He grinned as if he knew exactly how badly I wanted to maim and mutilate him. We were both already in half-skin, dressed in leather skirts and nothing else, our gladii in hand. His black scales shimmered beneath the noonday sun directly above us. He was smaller than me, even in half-skin, which had my dragon chuffing, ready for violence and to stomp him down.

Attendants stood not far away, near the Colosseum wall where other weapons were available for us to use. My fist squeezed the handle of my gladius, my heart desiring to stab into his chest so profoundly.

He was a threat. Not simply to me. But to Malina. Ciprian had brought her to the attention of the emperor, and now my timeline grew short. We’d have to do it soon. I had only been able to get a hasty message off to Trajan before I had to report to the arena. I’d woken late and left Malina sleeping, hoping to be home before she roused. I’d kept her up far into the night, almost to morning.

Sweet nectar of life, my Malina. My mate.

“Until one is bested or yields!” boomed Igniculus, jarring me to the present. “Not to the death, Generals.”

“Of course, Caesar!” Ciprian called up to the stands.

“Julianus.”

I jerked my head sharply up to him. “Yes, Caesar.”

“Then you may begin!” He clapped his hands once, signaling the start .

The noble Romans, commoners, freedmen and women, and slaves filling the stands roared their excitement, thirsty for blood and violence.

So was I.

I circled him, my tail lashing the air in anticipation, my beast uncoiling from the deep. He’d been with me all night, satiating his lust for flesh, for his mate. Now it was time to satisfy our appetite for blood.

Ciprian attacked first, lunging with a hard strike of his sword. I deflected, the blade skating along mine as I pushed him back a step. Then I took my own first strike, but he was fast. As I expected. I planned to wind him, beat him down before I could draw first blood.

He spun away and swept his tail across the sand, flinging it into my face, blinding me. Before he could slash across my chest, I beat my wings and flew backward just out of reach, rubbing the gritty sand from my eyes. The crowd screamed with excitement at the near miss.

My uncle’s laugh carried across the open arena. With a thrust of my wings, I leaped into the air and drove downward, toppling Ciprian to the ground. His widened eyes of surprise thrilled the dragon in me as I beat him with the hilt of my sword across the jaw. Once, twice… on the third, he rolled and beat his wings to escape me into the air, then landed on the opposite side with a thud and scrape of his claws in the sand.

The small trickle of red at his lip had the beast growling inside me. Complete pleasure at the sight of it. But not enough.

I charged, dodging his initial swing and managed a swipe of my blade against the bone of his wing. A satisfying crack filled the air.

“Ahhh!” cried Ciprian, blood dripping from the wound.

“Oooooo!” shouted the crowd, loving the sight.

I chuckled as I circled again, whipping my gladius playfully through the air. “That shoulder’s gonna need suturing when you shift back.”

“On Juno’s cunt.” Ciprian spat a glob of red. “I’ll have your blood on the sand before we’re through. ”

“You’ll be fucking dead before we’re through,” I promised.

He laughed, squaring off, his shoulders hunched as he readied to attack. “Now, now, Julian. Your uncle said no killing,” he taunted.

“Who said I plan to do it here and now?”

Then he lunged again. I was ready, gripping the handle of my gladius with both hands, I swung just as his blade clanged against mine. With a deft twist, I launched his sword out of his hand.

Ciprian growled in frustration and walked toward the attendants. “The trident!” he bawled.

The young man ran forward and gave him the new weapon while I marched to my own.

I waved my attendant over to bring me the three-pronged trident as well. He carried the weapon toward me, then leaped back suddenly.

With a rush of beating wings, Ciprian launched himself at me on a harsh cry, nearly stabbing me in the throat. He barely missed when I dodged right and swiped the tip of my gladius blade across the back of his thigh.

Even with scales, the sharp blade cut through the skin. Ciprian’s bellowing growl echoed to the skies.

“Bastard!” he yelled, his dark snout covered in blood, then he came at me again.

The clanging of trident against sword sounded through the stadium, the crowd completely enraptured, howling and screaming for more, for blood.

The sign of my opponent heaving deep breaths, weakening, seemed to rouse the beast within me. I launched forward at the same time I beat my wings hard and thrust both feet at his chest, sending him flailing and tumbling backward.

He pushed up onto his feet, stumbled and froze, winded and breathing heavily, seeming surprised by the hard blow. It was all I needed.

I spun my body sharply and swept him to the floor with my tail. His trident went flying out of reach .

Before he could scramble for it, I was on him, my foot on his throat, my gladius poised over his heart. Suddenly, almost at once, the crowd’s cries transformed from nonsensical screams into one steady chant. A mantra.

“Conqueror! Conqueror! Conqueror!” they cried.

Someone in the lower balconies shouted, “Kill him, Conqueror!”

More cries for death and the spilling of this putrid excuse for a Roman’s blood. The idea sank deep. I could see it, feel the power of it. Of taking his life and ridding the world of yet another would-be tyrant.

My gaze never left Ciprian, and his never left mine while the world howled for his head. We were frozen, locked in place, waiting. My grip on my sword tightened. Sweat dripped down my red-scaled arm, glistening in the sunlight. It would be so easy to end him, end the threat to Malina.

I was going to kill him.

The fact that Caesar might execute me for disobeying a direct command didn’t seem to matter. The growling beast that lived inside me crawled up, filling me with the hard desire to be done with this pathetic rival once and for all.

The shouts grew louder. I lifted my head to look at the Roman people, and a bone-deep chill burrowed to my bones. I could rule these people. I could very well become the Roman emperor they’d always needed.

I gazed back down at Ciprian, his throat still under my foot, and bent over him. Ciprian struggled beneath my weight but couldn’t get free. I grinned as I tightened my grip on my gladius, then—

No, Julian.

A tingling through my veins and her voice in my mind made me halt.

Don’t do it.

Malina.

I jerked my head toward the crowds. She was here somewhere.

Suddenly, to my right there was movement. Emperor Igniculus stood from his throne beneath the canopy and stepped to the edge of the box. He raised his hand high. As if he’d pulled a garrote tight around their throats, the crowd silenced at once.

“Well done, Julianus! A true son of the Ignis dragon!”

There was a clamor of applause and cheers that died quickly.

“Now you’ve tasted each other’s blood. It is done!”

There was steel and violence in his voice. It did the job. I removed my foot from Ciprian’s throat and stepped aside. Ciprian instantly stumbled to his feet, obviously wanting to come at me again.

“Come forward, Generals,” called Igniculus.

Chests heaving, we both walked closer to the emperor’s box and stood beneath it. The sun was high and hot.

“You have both done well. And though this is a draw—”

“I bested him,” I bellowed.

“I didn’t yield,” snapped Ciprian.

“Because I was about to slit your throat!” I glared at him.

“Enough!” Igniculus’s command echoed high into the rafters.

Nothing could be heard but a whoosh of wind through the arena, Caesar’s ire clear and apparent.

“That is quite enough,” he said in a calmer voice, still loud enough for those patricians in the lower boxes to hear. “To appease one another, you will each forfeit property of my choosing to end this feud once and for all.”

He paused, and my entire soul screamed, for I feared what was coming.

“To Julian, Ciprian will give his prized Andalusian stallion.” Ciprian hissed but said nothing. “To Ciprian, Julian will give his Celtic slave girl.”

I flinched, willing myself not to react. My sword hand tightened on the hilt again. To anyone else, this wouldn’t be a fair trade. A slave girl wasn’t as prized as an Andalusian stallion. But they didn’t understand that my slave girl was more precious to me than my own life .

Don’t, I heard her voice again, begging me, reaching through our bond.

Any rebuttal or refusal now would mean my death. And Malina needed me.

Ciprian, smiling, called up to the emperor, “Yes, Emperor! As you wish.”

I remained frozen, a statue in half-beast form, as I stared up at my uncle, who waited with a grave expression for my submission.

“Yes, Emperor,” I finally said in a low, clear voice. “As you wish.”

While the Romans laughed and filed out of the stadium, in good spirits from the day’s entertainment, I bowed to my emperor and walked away, a sickening pall blotting out all the light in my soul.